Renewed Controversy Over Legitimacy of Parliamentary Session

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A dispute between the March 8 and 14 forces over the legitimacy of holding a parliamentary session during the absence of the cabinet renewed on Monday over fears that Speaker Nabih Berri will go ahead with his plan.

Al-Mustaqbal bloc member MP Atef Majdalani said that such a session will not be the solution to resolve people’s problems.

“The solution remains in forming the cabinet to facilitate people’s affairs,” Majdalani stressed to Voice of Lebanon radio station.

MP Hani Qobeissi, who is a member of the speaker’s Development and Liberation bloc, told VDL, however, that Berri “insists” on holding the session.

An Nahar newspaper reported on Monday that March 14 parliamentary sources ruled out that consensus could be reached on the issue.

The sources warned against the possibility of holding the session even if the March 14 forces reject to participate in it, saying such a move is “unconstitutional.”

Last Wednesday, Berri agreed with lawmakers to give involved parliamentary committees a grace period of ten days to decide on the legality of holding a parliamentary meeting to take decisions on major issues such as the prisons and the nomination of the Central Bank governor.

He is seeking for a legal way to hold a session to compensate for the ongoing standstill in the formation of the cabinet.